462 



VOLCANIC ISLANDS. 



[1830, 



horror at the thought of shedding the blood of an ignorant Indian, 

 except when imperious necessity demanded it in self-defence, and in 

 protecting the lives and property intrusted to his care. 



I am confident that a ship thus constructed, fitted, equipped, officered, 

 manned, and suitably armed, with a supply of articles for trade to the 

 amount of twenty thousand dollars, would, at the expiration of two or 

 three years (always excepting the dangers of the seas), be able to 

 deliver a return cargo in this country worth four or five hundred thou- 

 sand dollars. Besides the articles already mentioned, which are so 

 easily obtained, there are gold-dust, ambergris, many valuable gems 

 and drugs, a great variety of shells and minerals, together with a con- 

 siderable quantity of biche-de-mer and the edible bird's nests. Unless 

 some American seizes the golden opportunity, this valuable trade will 

 never be of any benefit to our country, but will soon be monopolized 

 by foreigners. What possible objection can there be to forming a com- 

 pany of opulent merchants, who would invest one thousand dollars 

 each, to try the experiment? Without experiments neither science nor 

 commerce would ever have improved — even the western hemisphere 

 would have yet been unknown to Europeans. Here is an ample field 

 for the enterprising capitalists of the United States ; for this trade has 

 never yet been opened, or even attempted, by any portion of the com- 

 mercial world. 



November 13th. — On Saturday, the 13th of November, at two, P. M., 

 we bore up and steered to the north-west, keeping the mainland as 

 close on board as possible, frequently being compelled to haul ofF-shorc 

 to clear the many dangerous coral reefs which lay in our course. At 

 six, P. M., we were close in with a very conspicuous cape or head- 

 land, which runs a long way into the sea, terminating in a low sandy 

 point, on which are many Indian huts, surrounded and shaded by beau- 

 tiful groves of cocoanut-trees. This pointed promontory I have named 

 Cape Livingston, in honour of Edward P. Livingston, Esq., secretary of 

 state for the United States, the scholar, the statesman, and the patriot. 

 It is situated in latitude 4° 59' S., and longitude 145° 16' E. 



In the direction of north-north-east from this cape is a small volcanic 

 island, lying about six leagues from the mainland, which was in full 

 blaze. The grandeur of the spectacle at night was truly imposing, 

 when the flames ascended upwards from the lofty summit of the isolated 

 mountain, at least one thousand feet ; while the red burning coals of 

 pumice-stone were carried to the north-west on the buoyant wings 

 of the south-east wind, at an almost incredible height, and to the distance 

 of many miles. They appeared to the observers onboard the Antarc- 

 tic like millions of flaming stars floating in the air ; and my wife gazed 

 upon the scene with the most intense interest, occasionally ejaculating 

 such exclamations as " Magnificent ! sublime ! grand ! beautiful ! 

 wonderful !" &c. This island I named after my worthy friend 

 Mordecai M. Noah, Esq., of New-York. 



We now continued following the course of the mainland of Papua, 

 or New-Guinea, which tended to the west-north-west, and by eleven, 

 the next morning, we had passed six volcanic islands, four of 

 which were burning with terrific grandeur. The other two merely 



